By BRITTANY LEWIS
WISH-TV
The former Carmel girls basketball coach is sharing his side of the story about his firing.
Tod Windlan was let go in April, in a move that sparked backlash from some parents and community members.
To this day, he says he still does not know exactly why he was fired.
In an interview with News 8, Windlan detailed his version of the events of the last few months.
“On March 21st, I had my first face-to-face meeting with our athletic director Jim Inskeep and Tom Harmas, concerns about the program and they said they met with parents at the time and they’re going to do an investigation into the program about where it’s at, stuff like that,” Windlan said.
Windlan said the review into the program included questions to the players about whether he had ever used any vulgarity or profanity in a practice or game situation, did he ever raise his fist or kick anything in practice.
Windlan said a few weeks after meeting Inskeep and Harmas, he met with them again on April 13.
“They went over the paper that was signed by all three of us stating that I would be retained,” he said.
One week later, he said he received an email saying he needed to meet with the interim human resources director.
“We sat down at a table and he basically said, the executive staff has done a review of what’s been turned into him and they feel like there needs to be a change in leadership, in the direction and we’re not going to retain you as our girls basketball coach,” Windlan said.
He said by the time he got back to the high school from that meeting, an email had already been sent to parents and players stating that he would not be retained.
“The players were devastated, my phone was blowing up with texts, phone calls, my coaching staff. It was just devastation, it was just a heartbreaking experience,” he said.
Some of the players attended a school board meeting protesting his firing, others held rallies. Windlan said he tried to stay out of the media during it all.
“I was just trying to see what the best course of action was to help my kids in the program and the parents who were really supportive of me and it was very clearly evident, they were not going to try to be remotely cooperative in the central office.”
He said he requested his personnel file from the district on June 11, but didn’t hear back for more than two weeks. When he got a chance to see it, he felt it was incomplete.
“The first page in the file was the termination from the girls basketball coach and when you read down, there’s nothing on it but reason for termination: Just cause,” Windlan said.
He said there were no notes from administrators or parents, no letters, emails from parents for or against him and that there were no verbal or written complaints.
But he believes it was complaints from parents about lack of playing time for their child that started this, and that those parents had been working to get him out. He believes one of those parents reached out to a school board member friend.
He said some of the parents collaborated to make false accusations against him, including ethnic and racial slurs.
He said one of the accusations had to do with a nickname he had given a player.
“I called her the ‘Nigerian Nightmare,’ you were a nightmare tonight, you had like 36, you’re the Nigerian Nightmare, she loved it, she absolutely loved it. She came back to my office crying that they had said this,” Windlan said.
“The other kid would do dreads one day, two weeks later she had pigtails, her running joke with me was how long in practice before he notices my new hair,” Windlan said, describing what he would say to the player, “You got one poof in, you got two poofs today.”
He said she would respond with, “You got a Pee-wee Herman haircut coach.”
“So they used that in the thing saying that I was saying she had cottontails in her hair, the dad, he was really upset, said this never happened.”
Despite those accusations, Windlan said he was never told by the district specifically why he was being fired. He says he saw a copy of the review that was conducted of the program, which he said found a large majority of the players were in favor of him.
“The real reason why I was let go, I’d really like to know that.”
News 8 reached out to Carmel Clay Schools with a number of questions following Windlan’s interview. There has been no response.
When Windlan was fired the district sent out this statement:
“Carmel Clay Schools is committed to providing high quality opportunities for students to succeed both in academics and athletics. We take great pride in ensuring our teachers and coaches lead by example and always put what’s best for the student first. Regarding the girls basketball program, Carmel Clay Schools employs its head girls’ basketball coach under a year-to-year contract that is reviewed annually. Unlike teachers under contract, there is no expectation that a coach will be continued in employment for the next season. After the basketball season ended, Carmel High School administrators conducted a review of the program. This review was thorough and included multiple interviews with student athletes, members of the coaching staff as well as parents. The results of this review were also shared with the interim co-superintendents. The review revealed that there were differences in opinion regarding the leadership provided by the head basketball coach. What became clear, however, was that the players and families involved in the program had become divided and the program could be adversely affected by that division. The administration determined a change in leadership was necessary. Accordingly, for the overall good of the program, the administration decided not to bring back the head girls basketball coach for the 2018-19 season. Instead, Carmel Clay Schools will employ a new coach with the intention of providing a fresh start for the program to move forward on a unified basis under new leadership.”
Tod Windlan